Gabriella is really into My Little Pony and Care Bears. She has a large collection of each. (Both of which, by the way, I played with as a child. If I had only known the hundreds of dollars I could have saved simply by storing away my toys for my daughter.) Her three-year-old world revolves so much around these toys, in fact, that every day she renames everyone in our family with either Pony names, or Care Bear names, based on what we are wearing. (This seems to be the basic criteria for the renaming, however no one completely understands the complexities of her system besides herself.)
She will rename everyone at her whim, and once the renaming has occurred, everyone must be called by their new names, or suffer constant correcting.
"Alexander, get down from there!"
"No, Mommy, that's Bedtime Bear!"
Today I was Sunny Daze. (I'm usually Wing Song, so I was very excited to be someone new today!) Spiral was Too La Roo La. Little Man was Rainbow Dash, and Gabriella, of course, was Pinkie Pie.
This is more than often highly annoying, although generally benign. I have found how to work it to my advantage. If, for instance, I make a request of her using her Pony or Care Bear name of the day, she is so pleased that I am playing along, she frequently obeys.
I also shamelessly use this tactic to get love from her. My daughter has apparenty gotten too old for cuddles and saying "I love you" to her mommy. (They grow up so fast these days, don't they?) As I tuck her into bed at night, I whisper to her "I love you, Wish Bear!" In return, and without fail, I receive a huge smile, and "I love you, too, Grumpy Bear!"
That's right. I'm Grumpy Bear.